Welcome to the E46Fanatics forums. E46Fanatics is the premiere website for BMW 3 series owners around the world with interactive forums, a geographical enthusiast directory, photo galleries, and technical information for BMW enthusiasts.

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.

E46 Xi Forum The E46 XI was produced from 01-05 in sedan and touring body styles. Powered by either a 2.5L inline 6 in the 325xi or a 3.0L inline 6 330xi. Discuss all thing about BMW AWD E46 'Xi' here.

Ok I bought this car Friday from a private party seller everything seems to be in pretty good condition except for a few cosmetic issues. I just have a could questions that I can't find anyone to answer.

1. The clutch was replaced about 250 miles ago but it still seemed hard to shift anywhere above 2.5k rpm so I took the clutch valve out. It's a little better but doesn't feel quite right yet. Any suggestions?

Without knowing anything else I would start by draining the old fluid, putting ATF in, drive for ~1k mikes, drain again, and fill with MTL. I'm betting that the previous owner never changed the fluid. ATF will help clean up the insides, and MTL helps to make shifts a little easier.

It does seem like it's low on fluid. It doesn't grind or anything as if my mechanical parts are worn it's just a little too difficult. I pretty much have to force it into gear almost everytime I shift whether I'm shifting up or down. Extremely difficult to downshift.most of the time it won't let me downshift at all! Ill try cleaning it out real good I just didn't know if this was just a normally stiff car or not. The guy told me the power band on this car was between 2k and 2.5k which threw me completely off guard.

It does seem like it's low on fluid. It doesn't grind or anything as if my mechanical parts are worn it's just a little too difficult. I pretty much have to force it into gear almost everytime I shift whether I'm shifting up or down. Extremely difficult to downshift.most of the time it won't let me downshift at all! Ill try cleaning it out real good I just didn't know if this was just a normally stiff car or not. The guy told me the power band on this car was between 2k and 2.5k which threw me completely off guard.

That guy was an idiot, the power is at the higher end.

No, the transmission should be like butter. The only shift that's notoriously hard is the 1-2 and 2-1 shift, but the rest should be like butter. I can shift mine with my pinky.